I Noticed
by DearieMate
Summary: Emma attends the wedding of Rumple & Belle, and notices that there is only one person who isn't there. She goes to find him, and after an emotional exchange, smut ensues.


"Emma, almost ready to go?" Snow shouted from the living room. "The wedding starts in less than an hour!"

"Coming!"

Emma frustratingly ran around her room trying to get for her shoes, zipping up her skintight navy blue dress, gently clasping on some gold earrings. Finally, a splash of perfume and she was out the door.

The late afternoon weather was sublime that day; perfect for a wedding. There was a sense of hope in the air. The sun shone brightly above them without a cloud in sight, and a cool breeze was blowing in from the harbor. Birds were chirping in the distance as cherry blossom trees swayed along to the tune. _ When the Wicked Witch was defeated, Rumpelstiltskin and Belle had gotten engaged. In his words, it was "no time like the present." They had decided to hold the ceremony in the field behind Gold's house, underneath the big willow tree. Naturally, the whole town was invited.

As Emma neared the sight with Henry by her side, her thoughts drifted to Hook (as they usually did). She hadn't considered the idea that he would probably be here, probably see her dressed like this...probably be dressed up himself...the thought made her stomach do all kinds of flips and turns. But he wasn't there. The string quartet started to play, signaling the beginning of the ceremony. Disappointed, Emma took her seat next to Henry, staying on alert in case Hook happened to slip in late. But he never showed.

During the reception, Emma hung around near the bar, alone. She hovered there for a while, admiring the twinkling lights strung about and the way they glittered off her whiskey glass. The wedding had been beautiful, but it had made her wonder. She wondered if she would ever be able to experience that kind of love someday. Surely if the Dark One could find love, then she could too... But probably not. That's the price of being the Savior. You don't get a day off. Certainly not enough time to fall in love and get married.

Naturally, Snow noticed her daughter's thoughtful look, and nudged Charming in her direction.

"Hey you," he said as he leaned against the bar next to her. "Everything alright?"

Emma finished her whiskey and set the glass down. "Yeah, I guess I'm fine."

Charming knew her too well. "You sure about that?"

Emma felt her cheeks getting redder with each passing second. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was something else. "You know what? No. I'm not fine," she said to him, eyes welling up with tears. "I need to get some air."

She took her last swig of whiskey and walked off, leaving her father at the bar, confused and concerned. Snow had to stop him from going after her. "Just give her some space..."

It was dark out now. The street lights shone their watchful amber gaze over her as she made her way through town. She walked for awhile, until she found herself at the end of the docks. Her eyes had caught the damp brown wood of the boardwalk, and her gaze immediately shot up to the water...to his ship. She remembered how he didn't show earlier, and the disappointment came flooding back. Taking off her heels, she inhaled a deep breath and started walking towards the Jolly Roger.

Killian had been asleep in his cabin, when he heard a light knock on his door, startling him awake. Disgruntled, he yelled, "I haven't got the money for you, Grumpy. Just leave well enough alone!" and rolled back over onto his side. Emma's brows arched in confusion as she pushed the door open slightly, just enough to peek in.

Her breath caught as she saw him and blushed at the sight. He was laying in his bed on his stomach, without a shirt, arms crossed underneath his pillow. Her eyes traced along his shoulder blades as they gently rose and fell with his breathing. She had never seen him so...bare. Her cheeks flushed at the thought. She watched as his shoulder muscles tensed up as he began to move-

_Shit. Why did I come here?_ she thought.

She tried to back away slowly. And successfully at first, until she stepped onto a creaking floor board. She winced at the sound, hoping that he didn't hear. She kept walking away slowly, but his muffled footsteps were growing louder and louder. The door creaked open as he stepped outside.

"Swan?"

Emma stopped and turned to face him. His eyes were concerned at first, but then softened as she smiled sheepishly up at him.

"Hi."

He smiled back at her. "Hello. This is quite a nice surprise...what are you doing here?"

She thought about her answer as she stared at him, eyeing his naked torso with a blush. His hair was unkempt and hung in his face a little. He didn't wasn't wearing his hook, either. For the first time she was seeing him-seeing Killian, and a moment of panic set in.

_Oh god. what am I doing here? Why does he have to look like that right now?_

"I uhh, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd see what you were up to."

"Just in the neighborhood, huh?" he said as he took a step towards her.

"Mhm." She said, staring him down. He was close enough now that she could see the details in his eyes.

"So you just went out for a walk...dressed like_ that_?" he growled as he eyed her tight blue dress. She punched his arm lightly, alarming herself with the feeling of his bare skin underneath.

"Okay fine. No. I was at Gold's wedding, you idiot. The one that **you** managed to miss today."

He crossed his arms in front of her. "Did you really think I was going to attend the wedding of the_ Dark One_? Are you daft? I'm fairly certain he wouldn't have wanted me there anyway. I felt sure my absence wouldn't be noticed," he said, scratching behind his ear.

Emma looked up at him. "I noticed."

He was a bit taken aback by her comment, as was she. For the next few moments, they stood across from each other, silent. Looking in the others eyes, and away again. "Well..." Emma finally said, "Are you gonna invite me in or what?"

Hook laughed and did a little bow as he ushered her in. "If the lady insists."

As she brushed by him and went across the threshold, she caught his scent-rum and salt and leather and...flesh.

The captain's quarters was relatively small. Leather bound books of ancient tales lined the shelves, collecting dust. Lanterns were lit around the room to give light. Emma pushed aside the star maps on the table and laid her shoes there. Hook sat down on the edge of his bed as Emma walked over and looked at the books on the shelf, tracing their spines with her fingers.

"Do you want anything to drink, Swan?"

Emma laughed and looked at him. "Look at you, being so hospitable...but no thank you, I'm fine."

"Well is there anything..._else_ you want?" He took care to emphasize that last part on purpose.

Emma felt her cheeks flushing again, knowing full well what he meant. She turned back to look at the books. "Not at all."

He didn't say anything else for a while. She moved over to the ladder that stood against the wall of books and looked up at him.

"The wedding was nice."

"Aye, I'm sure it was."

"Yeah, uhh, it was. Almost everyone was there, and there was lots of booze and dancing, you know, the usual. And there was this great moment," she smiled, "where Rumple slipped on the dance floor, that you would have probably enjoyed."

His blue eyes fluttered up to hers. "Almost everyone?"

"That was all you heard from that?"

"It's just nice to know someone was thinking of me."

Emma looked down at her feet and shuffled them, tucking a piece of her blonde locks behind her ear. "Yeah well...we are friends."

"Swan, I'd wager to say we're more than that by now."

"Hook, you know I-"

"It's Killian, love."

Emma scratched her head. "Right. Killian. You know that I'm not good at this whole thing, and I don't know that I'm ready for something like that. I thought I was once. But that was the time in my life where I was living a complete lie..."

He was standing now, looking at her, and his voice had grown a little deeper and a little louder. "Aye, and I came back and saved you from that. I've never stopped trying to show you that I care. That I'm not going anywhere." His lips curled in, like he was trying to hold back from tears, or from saying something he shouldn't.

"What is it about me that still holds you back, Emma?"

His tone startled her a little bit. She hadn't come here for this conversation, she just came because she needed a friend. And right now, it seemed like he was her only one. Her voice was a bit shaky, but she answered. "I...I don't know. It's more me than you."

Killian shook his head and turned to look out the window, turning his back to her. "Emma. You know how I feel about you. How I've felt about you since the day we met. My feelings have not once wavered, even while we were apart for that year..."

"I know."

"...even while you were with someone else. Even while you told him that you _loved_ him. Even while you made the decision to move forward in your life with him by your side."

"I know."

He turned to face her again. "Then why the bloody hell can you not accept me?! Accept my love?" The word shocked them both as it spilled out of his mouth, but he continued. "The Emma that I found in New York was a woman who had opened herself to the notion, the mere thought that she could have a life with someone. **What happened to her?!" **

Emma could feel the tears rising hot within her cheeks and pooling at the corners of her eyes. Through her tears and with a shaky voice, she said,

"She disappeared when you gave her that potion."

She walked over towards the table and grabbed her shoes. She was halfway to the door when she felt a hand on her wrist, pulling her back-

Pulling her towards himself, Killian held her close and looked into her eyes. She was against the bare skin of his chest, arms moving up his towards his shoulders.

"Swan. You can't tell me that you don't feel anything towards me."

"I feel a lot of things, but it doesn't mean I can act on any of them."

He reached his hand and cupped her face, running his thumb along her jawline. "Oh, I beg to differ on that, love."

And in an instant, his lips had crashed into hers in passionate frenzy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She had never wanted to admit it before, but in his arms she felt whole, complete, loved. Her hands found their way to his hair, running her fingers through his black locks. He groaned into her mouth as she did it, igniting the flame in Emma.

She needed him. She had always needed him. First as an **ally**, then a **friend**, now a** lover**. She walked backwards towards the bookshelf, pulling him along with her. Reaching a hand back, she found the ladder first. She stopped right in front of it as he pulled back from her lips to whisper in a low sensual growl, "I think it's about time we rid you of that party dress, love."

"Well," she said turning around to face the ladder. "At least be a gentleman and unzip it for me."

She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and held it, exposing the zipper of her dress.

"Very well."

Emma braced herself against the ladder. She felt his fingers clasp the metal puller, and slowly pull down. With each inch of exposed skin, she could feel his hot breath planting kisses down her spine, all the way down...

With her dress unzipped, she turned around and shook it off of her shoulders as he pulled it down. She kicked it away and she let her hair fall down around her naked shoulders. She was wearing nothing but her lacy black panties. He took a moment to look at her, to look in awe at the exposed woman before him.

"So beautiful," he said as his lips pressed into hers again, hand cupping one of her breasts causing Emma to moan. She had now stepped up onto the first rung of the ladder, just high enough that Killian could easily kiss her neck, that sensitive pressure point that made the heat pool between her legs. She ran her fingers through his hair again.

"Oh God..."

"Do you like that, darling?"

"Yes. Killian please," she said as she looked down to her black lace.

Killian smirked up at her. "And you said there wasn't anything you wanted, Princess."

Emma held his face. "I want you."

"And me you shall have, milady."

He slowly began to plant kisses down her body. Starting at the nape of her neck, to her adam's apple, between her breasts, above her navel, down, down...

He had dropped to his knees now. With his teeth and his hand, he pulled the black lace down to her ankles. He looked up at her exposed skin. "You're positively soaked, Emma."

"God, Killian please-"

At her eager words, he lifted one of her legs and laid it over his shoulder. Emma laid her hands in his hair again to steady herself. He covered her nerves with his mouth, licking stripes up and down, sucking harder after each time. Emma felt as though she would burst into flames any second. She hadn't felt this good in a long time.

"Oh God..."

He thrusted two fingers into her as he continued to work her clit. It wasn't long before she could feel that familiar burn low in her body, building and building until-

She screamed as her orgasm crashed into her, temples flaring and vision blurring. He stood as she collapsed onto him. He picked her up and carried her over to his bed, where she lay still for a moment, trying to catch her breath. "Oh my god, Killian."

He smiled at her as he climbed into the bed with her. "Just getting started, love."

He leaned in for a kiss, but stopped when he felt her hand on his chest, holding him back.

"Hey," she said simply, searching his eyes, wanting to stop and savor the moment.

"I love you."

The honesty of her statement fell over her like a wave against a shore. Years of bottled up hatred, loneliness, and fear, broken open by this man, this pirate next to her. So this is what true love looks like, she thought.

His lips turned up into a smile. "And I, you."


End file.
